I’m learning a new software drawing program these days. It does not involve throwing around paint, taking a pencil for a walk around a piece of paper, nor following a story in my head. No, learning a new software program involves coloring between the lines, pretty much.  Not a lot of room for creativity. Pressing #***%^ instead of Shift+Command isn’t going to yield similar results no matter how much prettier those keys are.

I’m getting tired of staring at this screen.  But I’ve made a commitment to myself that I’ll stay at this desk for at least an hour. So I’ve been staring at my keyboard instead.

That’s when I noticed the keys “Escape”, “Option”, “Shift”, and “Control”. And I hear: If you want to Escape this frustration, you always have the Option to Shift the Control from your frustrated mind to that quiet place inside.

What a desperate attempt at making myself more comfortable!  Yet I find myself taking a deep breath and just relaxing. And suddenly my desire to chuck the computer across the room has subsided, and ideas about how it will help me create come flooding in.

Of course, I’ve seen those keys probably a million times in my life. But it took it took a minute of rest to combine them into something new. Most of us, including myself of course, don’t “take a moment” enough. But that’s where creativity lives. In the relaxed, free-associating mind.

Take a breath. Pay attention to your senses. Let what you hear play with what you smell. Watch where your mind takes you.